Google readies Chromecast developer push

Google is working on an official SDK for its digital media dongle Chromecast, and is inviting developers to the company's headquarters to show how best to use it.

A planned developer event hints at the imminent arrival of an official SDK for Chromecast

By
Mikael Ricknäs
| 22 Nov 2013

Google is working on an official SDK for its digital media dongle Chromecast, and is inviting developers to the company's headquarters to show how best to use it.

As with smartphones and tablets, vendors are looking to get help from developers to make their TVs and related accessories more interesting to consumers. One of the companies hoping to attract developers to its product is Google. The company wants developers create apps for the Chromecast using the Cast SDK, which for now is only available as a developer preview.

The Chromecast is a USB-dongle that attaches to a TV and allows users to view content from the likes of Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus and Google's own Play service via PCs, smartphones and tablets. It is only available in the U.S. On Thursday, Google also announced the addition of HBO Go to the Chromecast roster.

For developers that want to learn more about how to add their creations to the list of compatible apps, Google is soon hosting a two-day hackathon, it said in an email to developers. The event will take place at the company's Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 and "engineers will be available to share changes from the developer preview, discuss best practices, and answer any questions," Google said.

Anyone can register for the event, but priority will be given to those developers who have experience with the preview version of the SDK. For developers that can't or aren't allowed to attend the event, Google has also posted some online documentation.